Alis Volat Propriis
by MaryRoyale
Summary: Certain things are expected of young, wealthy, pureblood wizards like Blaise Zabini. Unfortunately, he doesn't want anything he's supposed to-he wants Millicent Bulstrode, but sneaking around and lying will only get you so far. MB/ZB Submission for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition- Round 2. Angst.


**The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition- Round 2**

**Team:** Falmouth Falcons

**Author: **MaryRoyale

**Position:** Beater #2

**Prompts Used:** Clipped Wings, Pretense

**Song: **Jasey Rae by All Time Low

**Lyrics:**

_I've never told a lie, and that makes me a liar_

_I've never made a bet, but we gamble with desire_

_I've never lit a match, with intent to start a fire_

_but recently the flames, are getting out of control._

**Title:** Alis Volat Propriis (She Flies With Her Own Wings)  
**Official Disclaimer**: The original characters of this story are the property of the J.K. Rowling. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended. It is my contention that this work of fan fiction is fair use under copyright law. No monies were received for receipt of this work.

**Pairing:** Millicent Bulstrode/Blaise Zabini (romantic)  
**Rating:** T  
**Word Count:** approx. 2800

**A/N:** I had never heard of this song before it was chosen for me, but the lyrics were definitely inspiring. Angst. Lots and lots of angst because that's what the lyrics suggested to me.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

Amber liquid swirled in the bottom of a cut-crystal tumbler as Blaise rolled his drink between his hands. He sighed and took a large swallow not even wincing as it burned down his throat and into his belly. _It was for the best_. He snorted to himself. _Right… for the best. You keep telling yourself that, mate_. He took another swallow of firewhiskey from his tumbler and glanced around the club. It was a private wizarding club—one had to have the right connections to be granted a key. Tonight was quiet and Blaise occupied a corner by himself.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say she dumped you," Draco drawled as he took the seat opposite Blaise. Draco glanced toward the bar and almost immediately another tumbler appeared on the low table between them. "Not that I know who _she_ is since you kept the whole thing so hush hush." Draco paused pouring firewhiskey in his tumbler and looked at Blaise with an expression of horror. "It wasn't Granger, was it? Tell me it wasn't Granger."

"It wasn't Granger," Blaise recited in a dull, listless voice.

Draco blinked at him. "Merlin, she did a number on you didn't she."

_More like I did a number on her_.

"I don't want to talk about this," Blaise muttered.

"Fine, we'll just get drunk then. That sounds like an excellent plan. Very mature of you Blaise." The calm expression belied Draco's insolent tone, but Blaise didn't call him on it.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

"_I can't do this anymore." _

_Millicent frowned for a moment and then turned her head to look at Blaise before turning away and looking out the window. She was standing there wearing some sort of red, lacy negligée thing that made his blood burn staring out at the city with her back to him. Her long black hair was unbound and it fell to the middle of her back in soft waves. When he saw her like this it was impossible for him to see her the way his friends did—fat, unpopular, unattractive. _

"_What are you talking about?" She asked slowly her fingers picking at the hem of her negligée_

"_This-," Blaise waved a hand between them. "It isn't fair to you."_

_The frown grew more pronounced. "What isn't fair to me?"_

"_The sneaking around, the lying, all of it," Blaise replied. _

"_So stop sneaking around. Stop lying." Millicent had turned to face him and her eyes were watching him carefully. Something flashed in her eyes and then she laughed, low and bitter. "Ah, but you can't, can you? You don't dare admit in public that you care for _me_ Millicent Bulstrode, the ugly duckling. How could the beautiful, charming Blaise Zabini ever love someone like clunky old Bulstrode? Or is that a pretense as well? The final lie and the greatest one of them all?"_

_Blaise opened his mouth to refute her, to tell her that his feelings for her were anything but a pretense, but his tongue wouldn't move. All he could see in his mind's eye were his friends laughing and mocking him… and her. Millicent's pretty face twisted into something ugly and dark and she shook her head. _

"_I should have known. None of you have managed to move past Hogwarts. Well fine, Blaise. Go find someone thin and popular who fits the acceptable guidelines for beauty that all of your friends can approve easily. Don't you dare try for something real," Millicent's voice shook with rage. "Get out… just get out."_

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

"Did you hear? Bulstrode's applied for a transfer to the Colonies," Adrian Pucey announced as he sat down at their table in the Ministry cafeteria.

Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy snorted in amusement.

"They can have her," Theo chuckled and then jostled Blaise. "Isn't that right, Zabini."

Blaise forced a natural-looking smile to his face. "Sure, they can have her."

"I heard that you finally agreed to go out with Daphne," Draco said smoothly adroitly changing the subject.

Blaise shrugged. "It seemed like I might as well."

Draco smiled at his friend. "Astoria would have a fit if I told you this, but Daphne's excited about your date."

Laughter and witty conversation surrounded Blaise, but he didn't hear any of it. He tried eating his lunch but it tasted of ashes. _Bulstrode's applied for a transfer to the Colonies_.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

"You'd never lie to a girl, would you Blaise?" Daphne asked coquettishly. She tilted her head slightly so that her long, smooth neck was shown to advantage and widened her blue eyes.

Blaise glanced over at Daphne and felt his lips stretch into a false smile. "No, never."

Daphne's lips curved in an answering smile and the night dragged on. The Greengrass family was well-to-do, pureblood and well placed in wizarding society. Their eldest daughter Daphne was beautiful, slender, and charming; she was a talented witch and socially popular in their set. Everyone kept saying that they were a perfect match. Blaise had to fight to keep his lips from curling into a sneer every time someone congratulated him on 'catching' Daphne. Catching the chit hadn't been the problem, not when everyone he knew was shoving her in his arms.

"Isn't that right, Blaise?" Draco laughed and nudged Blaise with his elbow.

Blaise blinked and looked toward Draco with an expression of confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"I said that you'll have to invite Daphne to visit your villa this summer. Manerba del Garda is beautiful in August," Draco replied smoothly, but his eyes glinted a warning at Blaise.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

"What is wrong with you?" Draco hissed behind his hand.

Blaise blinked and turned to his friend. "What on earth are you talking about Draco?"

Draco snorted and waved a hand toward Daphne and Astoria who were both wearing bikinis and frolicking in Lake Garda.

"Are you blind man? You act as though your kneazle died." Draco paused and frowned at him. "Your kneazle didn't die… did he?"

"No. Macchiavelli is fine," Blaise muttered. He did not think about the fact that Millicent had purchased Macchiavelli for him as a birthday present.

"I'm fond of Astoria, but Merlin's staff Blaise Daphne is not exactly a troll," Draco growled in irritation.

A sigh escaped his lips as Blaise dutifully looked at Daphne. She _was _beautiful and she had a very nice body with curves in all the pre-approved places. She was bouncing about in the water and certain parts of Blaise appreciated all the bouncing, but his heart just wasn't in it. He couldn't help but wish that Daphne's quite nice brown hair was raven-wing black and fell almost to her bum. He couldn't help but wish that Daphne's bum were rounder, curvier, and a bit bigger. In short, he kept wishing that it was Millicent in a bikini frolicking in the water. His eyes crossed at the thought of Millicent in a bikini as skimpy as the one Daphne was currently wearing. A low growl left his throat at the idea of anyone else seeing Millicent dressed like that.

Draco chuckled and clapped Blaise on the back. "That's our Blaise."

Everyone wanted him to just take what Daphne was offering so blatantly, but Blaise had gambled his heart away a long time ago in the stupid games he'd played with Millicent and he had nothing left to wager. He felt as though a part of him were missing and there was no one whom he could speak to about the matter. Blaise felt utterly alone even though he was ostensibly surrounded by friends.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

Once when Millicent had been very small she had gone to visit her great-aunt Abigail who kept her budgies' wings clipped. Millicent had been horrified and told her mum so as soon as they were home. Her mum had sat her down and explained that it was all supposed to be for the birds' safety. Millicent hadn't been so sure. She rather suspected that it just made everything more convenient for the owners who had spent time and money on the poor little budgies. As Millicent grew older, she couldn't help but feel like a budgie in a cage. Pureblood girls were expected to look pretty, smile and nod at all the right places in conversation, but they were never, ever expected to escape the fate society had planned for them from their birth. Whenever she had been forced to attend those awful pureblood functions she had looked at the other girls and had seen a flock of colorful birds that paraded back and forth and never minded the fact that their wings had been clipped.

Moving to the States had been both the smartest thing that Millicent had ever done and the most agonizing. Her career in the American Ministry of Magic was taking off in all sorts of exciting ways even though she'd only been in the States for a year. They liked her… her boss thought she had moxie whatever that was. No one here judged her because she'd been an unattractive little kid and a gawky, self-conscious teenager. No one here judged her because she had been in Slytherin or was a pureblood. There were no masks here, no pretenses that Millicent needed to hide behind. Here where no one knew her she was finally allowed to be herself—to stretch her wings and fly.

Here Millicent would find love on her own terms—a wizard who would stand up in front of all of his friends and proudly proclaim that _she_ was his girlfriend—because she deserved nothing less. Millicent Bulstrode was done letting people kick her around; she was done allowing men to pretend they didn't know her in public, but sneak around to her flat in the evening.

/\/\/\

MB/BZ

\/\/\/

"Dance with me." Sasha commanded and held out one hand imperiously.

Millicent sighed and slipped her hand into his. Coming out to the club wasn't her idea, but her new friends rarely took no for an answer. Her friend Erica had dressed her tonight and she was wearing a deep green dress that looked as though it had been painted on her body showing off every single curve she had. It had taken months, but she was used to the stares and the leers from the wizards. Her new American friends told her she had a 'bangin' body', and she really had no choice but to believe them.

"Mind if I cut in?" A faceless voice asked.

Sasha sneered with cold precision. "Yes, I do. The lady isn't interested."

The wizard slunk off into the depths of the club and Millicent rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"Why do you dress me like this if you don't want every man in here to hit on me?" Millicent asked curiously.

Sasha grinned down at her. "I want you to believe in yourself. I want you to look in the mirror and see how beautiful you are—how amazing."

The dancing in these clubs was less 'dancing' and more gyrating against one's dance partner in a simulation of sex and it had taken Millicent months until she felt comfortable enough to do it in public. It helped that her current dance partner was Sasha. He was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen in her life, with his piercing ice-blue eyes and his strong chin he resembled a renaissance angel, but he was as gay as the day was long. Millicent felt completely safe with Sasha and she enjoyed dancing with him. A throbbing beat began to play and Millicent automatically turned around so that her back was to Sasha's front. She shimmied up and down his tall frame undulating her hips and rubbing against him in ways that would have shocked anyone who'd known her previously.

She glanced toward her table as she and Sasha moved together and she noticed that several men were standing next to her table talking to Erica and Jenny. Erica and Jenny pointed toward her and Sasha and waved cheerfully. Figures. The strangers probably wanted to sit with Erica and Jenny, not that she could blame them. Her American friends were very pretty witches. Millicent flashed a smile at Erica and Becky, but then Sasha was spinning her around his arms and undulating his hips against hers. If this were anyone else she would be mortified, but Sasha was Sasha. When the song ended he wrapped an arm around her waist and headed back to their table.

"Where's my drink?" Millicent demanded when they got back to the table, ignoring the men who were grouped loosely behind Erica and Jenny.

"Merlin's beard, Bulstrode is that you?" Adrian Pucey squeaked. His eyes were wide and he was staring at Millicent's figure.

A low growl startled Millicent and she was staring into indigo eyes that burned her from the inside out. _Blaise_. It had always been this way between them—that magnetic pull that drew them to one another regardless of the propriety. He was glaring at Sasha as though he'd like to call him out. She glanced up at Sasha to see him smirking back at Blaise. Sasha's arm tightened around her, one large hand spreading possessively over her belly.

"Do you know these guys Millie?" Erica asked curiously.

Millicent looked over the small group comprised of Adrian Pucey, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott… and Blaise Zabini. She shrugged from within the circle of Sasha's arms. "I went to school with them."

"Oh that's right, there's only one magical school in the UK," Jenny told Erica who nodded.

"Well, Millie's school chums, have a seat," Erica said with a smile.

Blaise made sure that there was only one empty seat and it was right next to him. Sasha smirked at him and sat down in it, pulling Millicent into his lap. Erica and Jenny were giggling, but Millicent just rolled her eyes at them.

"You certainly look different here in the Colonies, Bulstrode," Theodore Nott murmured in a dazed voice, his eyes fixed on Millicent's curves.

"Millie doesn't dress like this for work," Erica informed them. "She always wears those witch's robes, which do absolutely nothing for your figure, Millie. We always have to hold her down and force her into something fun when we come out to dance."

Adrian's eyes glazed over when Erica got to the part about holding Millicent down. He blinked and shook his head with a frown. "So wait… you always looked like this under your robes?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes," Millicent replied in an icy voice.

After several minutes spent watching Blaise watch Millicent, Draco came to a startling realization. "Bloody hell! It's Bulstrode!"

The rest of the table turned to stare at Draco for a moment. Theo patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "We'd figured that bit out, Draco."

"Don't be a bigger arse than you already are," Draco snapped irritably. "No, I mean it's _Bulstrode_. The reason Blaise refused to marry Daphne. The reason he mopes around like someone's taken away his birthday. The reason he never goes out, never does _anything_. It's Bulstrode."

Everyone stared at Draco and then turned to look at Blaise who appeared to be mortified. Then everyone turned to Millicent who was watching Blaise warily. Blaise was staring at Millicent with those burning indigo eyes.

"Blaise?" Adrian asked in a subdued voice.

Theo frowned. "I don't understand."

Blaise ignored them and took a swallow of his drink. For a brief second something dark flashed in Millicent's eyes and her lips twisted bitterly.

"Come dance with me, baby. This is your favorite song," Sasha's deep voice rumbled against Millicent's back. She nodded silently and allowed Sasha to drag her out onto the dance floor.

They had barely begun dancing when Millicent was ripped out of Sasha's arms and yanked into Blaise's embrace. His arms were tight around her, holding her against the muscled wall of his chest. She blinked up at him in surprise and then his lips were crashing against hers. Shock made her pause for just a moment and then she was kissing him back enthusiastically, her lips moving with his. Her arms wound around his neck and her fingers slid into his thick curls.

"Blaise," she whispered against his lips.

His lips curved against hers. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know, but I've never been happier."

She stared up at him for a moment and then she smiled. "Okay."


End file.
